Happy First Day of Summer?

This may come as a surprise to you, especially if, like me, you're in Chicago where summer has been here, off and on anyway, since March.

If you're not currently in the grip of a killer heatwave, you may be surprised to learn that the Summer Solstice can be on some other day other than June 21, but that's what Wikipedia says. And, although most people may think of the Summer Solstice as the first day of Summer, Wikipedia (again) tells us that today is Midsummer. That makes sense, sort of, since today is, by definition, the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere. So how can today be both the first day of summer and midsummer. Lord, what fools these meteorologists be!

If this is all to confusing for you, today is the 49th Anniversary of the actual first installation of that indispensable prop in nearly all Cold War movies, comedies and dramas alike, the red phone.

If you'd rather save that one for the gala 50th anniversary next year, today is also the day on which the Ed Sullivan Show (then titled "Talk of the Town") first appeared on CBS.



Sure, your parents or grandparents tuned in to this really big shew for Topo Gigio and Señor Wences, but Ed Sullivan is the man who brought Elvis Presley and the Beatles into the grown ups' living rooms. And you know darn good and well, they weren't getting in there any other way.